New development, advice please? I received a call this morning inviting me to an interview next week. If I was lucky enough to be offered this role, how should I approach my current employer who is still conducting an investigation. My problem is the reference, although nothing has been decided yet and I personally do not think there is a case to answer, I do not want the decision handed to them on a plate and I need a good reference to move on.

Well I am not sure they have that much to go on, but it is nerve racking waiting for the outcome. I am worried if they suddenly decide to go to disciplinary and find against me, it will all happen quickly and I won't have time to appeal whilst still being paid. You are right though I have found this forum very helpful and I am often amazed by some of the stories I have come across. Well done to you though it sounds like you could start your own little side line in employment law.

Thanks for the support. But I really do hope 3 and a half years is the exception here and not the rule! Did they pay you all that time?

To the point and excellent advice as ever Em. you are right, I will leave things as they are.

Hi update and advice please. After sending yet another email and asking for suspension to be lifted, an interesting development has occurred. Even tho the original investigator has left they have now informed me that he is going to continue with the investigation. They have also said the suspension still holds because they have other meetings next week. This to me seems backtracking because of my last email when I pointed out that appointing a new investigator was delaying things and a new person would not be expected to be well informed enough to make a reccomendation based on a few notes. I am concerned that they seem determined to ensure I am scapegoated for alleged misconduct and would like advice on how I should proceed, I.e. should I have an appeal letter started and should I be prepared to raise a grievance and force them to look into 4 years worth of data to prove my point. That this has been common practice in the department overseen by my manager.

Thanks AB, I just wonder at what point should I show my hand?

Thanks for the advice Em. It is so frustrating though, particularly when you have time on your hands. I am keeping a log of everything though.

Going into 5th week suspension now and with a new investigatory manager taking over Monday. Don't think the message of accepted practice has got through and they are now dragging their heels. I have asked to return to work on several occasions now and they are refusing, I believe I could have a case under any one of 3 policies Dignity at work, grievance, and if DM truly believes practice is wrong then whislte blowing policy to prove this is accepted practice and has been under the current manager for 4 years. Any advice please?

Hi AB, just been told via email suspension remains in place and they have now appointed new investigating officer. I felt I gave a reasonable and frank explanation of departmental practice as overseen by my manager, however I do not think this will come across in a few hastily written notes. I was considering responding to let them know I feel seriously disadvantaged by their decision and the appointment of a new investigating manager. your opinion would be appreciated.

Yes I did mention it to H.R. and a previous manager when said manager raised an issue with them, It all blew over without incident and she started a charm offensive, that she found very hard to maintain. However I let things ride because I thought the lesson had been learned. However I did continue to log down all my concerns whenever she blew up at me or anything untoward happened, this is a 4 year log of individual incidents that would be hard to fabricate, so might carry some weight. What I don't want to do is jump the gun though in case I can go back and have time to consider moving on, I am worried if I raise this now they will then have further causes to look into my future with them.

Hi, still waiting for the summation of the investigatory meeting. But am concerned because this is the 4th week suspended, if I were dismissed could I still bring a grievance regarding the bullying tactics I have endured over last 4 years. From researching on net, seems to say this must be done within 3 months of last incident and the way they are dragging their heels this time could elapse pretty quickly. Also most of the bullying is by my direct line manager who is not instrumental in this suspension, although it is her standards that have triggered my suspension. Also she is freinds with the suspending manager and they spend much time together, and I know she verbally runs me down whenever she gets the chance, in front of him and also to others.

I am nit sure if it was an interim post and has just now come to an end, he did not elaborate. But did say would be handing over all information to whoever is selected. The notes taken were also covered by H.R. and an independent note taker and I also had a representative with me and she gave me her notes. I Just feel that the person who was at the meeting, will have got my message loud and clear, not so a person who is handed a few notes to look through.

I spoke to the investigating manager and he told me he is leaving the organisation today. This is a bit of a blow, I am concerned that someone coming in at this stage will not understand I have asked that the person taking over be from outside my department. I don't see the point in appointing a person as investigatory manager, if they are unable to complete the job. It could make the whole process very messy. Meanwhile I just have to wait and see how messy it gets. This is a very worrying development for me.

Hi Altobelli, yes they said they wiil write up notes e-mail to me. I can make and track changes and send back to investigating officer. A report will be done and go back to the DM with reccomendations, regarding next steps. They would not elaborate on who made the allegation and said I must ask DM, I already did that and he refused to give me that information.. I did mention if a review is left up to the DM I did not have much confidence in the suspension being lifted. Just a thought, if he doesn't like their reccomendations, can he still go ahead with a disciplinary?

Thanks all. Not going to rest on my laurels too much, don't think a whistle blower, goes down too well. Sadly I was given no option:sad:

Hi Atobelli, had meeting this morning, went on for some time. I answered questions and pointed out that a lack of clarity around interpretation of guidelines is a problem, not just for me. I stuck to my points accepted practice, this is how it has been done, I very rarely act alone without running by people who have made changes in the past and still continue to do so. Also mentioned the shock of having this turned on me after flagging up inconsistencies by another team which was causing a problem for the deadline that week. They did ask me about policy if it was written etc, I explained only word of mouth, as is training on system. Just hope I have managed to make them understand. was also asked about manager and relationship, as I said not good to say the least, so do not expect corroboration of what I am saying. Although they do have option of checking other lists over some time, when I actually had nothing to do with changes. Hope this is enough for someone to see the light.

Thanks Altobelli, will definitely give it my best shot. But can't help thinking they ain't going to like what they hear and that will give them just cause to escalate to the next level.

Hi all, have my meeting tomorrow AM. Just remembered thet person who updates the main system asked for back up of any locally made changes via e-mail. This was some time ago and before I became directly involved. Surely this should be enough to convince them any changes were accepted practice?

Thanks Emmzzi,

Thanks, Altobelli, I am working on this all weekend. I will mention the length of time also and hopefully get them to reconsider. I have recalled a number of incidents where my manager has interpreted guidelines and given direct instructions to me and others, is it advisable to just be direct with this information at the meeting? Even though I have been dropped in this mess without consideration, it just never feels right to reciprocate.

Thanks Altobelli, that makes sense, just when your job is under threat the last thing you want to do is antagonise them any more. Now they have sent out these 3 cases are they still likely to throw further stuff into the mix when I go to the meeting, the letter says they still have 30 days to investigate. That brings us to late April! Next week is my 3rd week suspended, this is making me crazy with worry, its all I can think about.

there is 3 specific record and it says I altered them in various ways to avoid them showing as breaches, I have given reasons why they may have been changed in line with accepted practice. I have outlined the history, I.e. when I took over validation and this being common practice. the timing of the allegation etc. I have then added the statement making it clear that although this might avoid breaches in these 3 records, I am strongly denying that this process is purely to avoid breaches. the process is to make corrections which may also add to the breaches. do u think I should offer any apologies, I don't want to come across too higher than mighty, after all we all make mistakes, be grateful for your thoughts?

Hi spoke to investigating manager this morning, she is proposing a meeting next Tuesday and said she is sending an e-mail to speed things up. She suggested that my defence/statement should be based on this letter and not on the other letter that asked for a statement to what is an overarching sentence, without specifics. My question is, should I keep coming back to my main points, which is any changes alterations are as per management interpretation of guidelines and all changes are always run past people with more knowledge. This person knows th system well has worked closely with the manager, over the last 5 years, to make changes which up to now apparently is accepted practice.

will do, thanks Emmzzi.

Thank you A/B, I am so grateful for all your advice. All makes so much sense but when you are in the situation all your reason seems to fly out the window. I had a call from the investigating manager this morning, I was at Docs and missed the call, have rang all day at intervals and left messages and still no one came back to me, I just want to get the statement back they requested, because it may delay things. There is no point sending it to divisional manager he has gone on holiday, so will spend another week sitting on his desk. It makes more sense to send to the investigating manager, do you agree?